The Howell Blessings

The lessons she taught me... She taught me to say "please", "thank you," and "you're welcome". She taught me to give up my seat for my elders and to sit down and listen at their feet. She taught me to not disrespect authority and to respect myself. She taught me to not give away what belongs to someone else. To save that gift for my husband. She taught me that there is power in prayer and sometimes God's answer is silence. She taught me that time spent with Him is never wasted time. She taught me to not save that special something for after you're gone, but to share it when you can    share in the joy it brings that other person. She taught me to be still and listen. The lessons she taught that I'm still trying to learn: To laugh like a little child and let my joy spill out. To find satisfaction in the littlest moments. To forgive easily because unforgiveness only hurts me. To act on expressing love, because that person may...

This is a very belated Five-Minute-Friday post from Aug 6th. The prompt was "Here". So...here goes! "He isn't here!  I mean, he is here physically, but he isn't here with me." I whined to my mother. For a few years that is how I lived, side-by-side with my husband. Together, yet not. Each of us off doing our own thing, barely interacting with each other. We went through different phases throughout our married life, and that one was very lonely. To be with someone, but not be present feels very hollow. Today, I see children, learning from a very early age to not be present.  They are side-by-side, sitting next to their "friends" but they aren't there. They are on their mobile phones checking in on social media, texting another friend that is only yards away from them...they aren't "here" in the present, looking into the eyes of the one sitting next to them, and having a real-life, in-the-moment, conversation with that person...